Slidable jaw wrench



June 5, 1951 w. M. JOHNSTON SLIDABLE JAW WRENCH Filed Aug. 24, 1948 Patented June 5, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLIDABLE .IAW WRENCH William M. Johnston, Hazlehnrst, Ga.

Application August 24, 1948, Serial No. 45,866

3-Glaims. 1

My invention relates to adjustable wrenches of the'type wherein a slidable jaw is slidable toward and away from a stationary jaw for engaging work pieces of varying sizes.

With the foregoing in view, an object of my invention is to provide an improved adjustable wrench.

A further object is to provide an improved adjustable wrench which includes means for makin quick adjustments of the movable jaw relative to the stationary jaw.

Other objects and advantages reside in the particular structure of the invention, combination and arrangement of the several parts thereand will be readily understood by those skilled'in the art upon reference to the attached drawing in connection with the following specification, wherein the invention is shown, described and claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is. an. elevational view of a wrench according to the invention;

Figure. 2. is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section through the wrench jaws;

Figure 3 is a rear view of the wrench looking from the right of Figure 1, parts being broken away;

Figure- 4 is a horizontal sectional viewtaken substantially on the plane of the line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevational view taken substantially on the plane of the line. 55 of Figure 4, parts being omitted;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a detail.

Referring specifically to the. drawing, wherein like reference characters have been used throughout the several views, the wrench according to the invention as herein disclosed by way of an example, may take the form of a monkey wrench, but is obviously capable of taking the form of other adjusatble wrenches. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated, there is provided a stationary jaw I havin an integral extension or shank ll extending therefrom at an angle thereto. The free end of the shank or extension II may be formed to provide any suitable hand grip !2. A cylindrical stem I3 is fixedly secured in the stationary jaw In in any suitable manner and extends therefrom in parallel spaced relation to the extension or shank II. The lower end of the stern I3 is seated in a forwardly-directed shoulder [4 formed in the upper end of the hand grip l2. A slidable jaw I is formed with a longitudinally-extending cylindrical bore [6 which slidably receives a stem [3. Thus, the movable jaw is not only slidable on the stem [3 toward and away from the stationary jaw IE, but is also rotatable on. the

' stem l3 into and out of aligned and mis-aligned positions relative to the stationary jaw Iii. In the structure illustrated, the stem i3 is provided with an enlarged threaded head. ll which threadedly engages an interiorly-threaded socket l8 formed in the stationary jaw 10. The lower end of the stem !3 is unthreaded and seats in an unthreaded socket [9 formed in the shoulder M of the hand grip [2.

The upper inner surface of the shank. or extension l is preferably longitudinally channeled or concaved, as at 2%), to receivev the complementary convex surface 2! of the movable jaw 15, whereby to permit sliding and rotatable movement of the movable jaw relative to the stationary jaw. The lower inner surface of the shank or extension II is formed with a longitudinally-extending series of rack teeth 22. Likewise, the series of teeth 22 are preferably longitudinally concaved orchanneled in rearwardly-offset concentric relation to the channel 20. The rear lower portion of the movable jaw 15 is formed with at least one rack tooth 23 which is complementary to the rack teeth 22 and which is adapted to interengage with-such rack teeth 22 upon rotation of the movable jaw IE on the stem I 3 from a mis-aligned to an aligned position relative tothe stationary jaw. Likewise, when the teeth 22 and 23 are thus engaged, the movable jaw is thereby locked in an adjusted position relative to the stationary jaw. To adjust the movable jaw !5, it is necessary that it be given a partial rotation on the stem I3 to the position designated in full lines in Figure 3, whereby the jaws are in the mis-aligned position and the rack teeth 22 and 23 are out of engagement. In this position, the movable jaw I5 is freely slidable toward and away from the stationary jaw I 0 to adjust the relative space between the jaws. Such movement is illustrated by way of an example in broken lines in Figure 3. As best seen in Figures 5 and 6, and to facilitate the engagement and disengagement of the rack teeth 22 and 23, all of such rack teeth are preferably formed with laterally-tapered ends formed to provide relatively sharp edges 24. Thus, irrespective of whether or not the tooth or teeth 23 is exactly aligned with a channel between adjacent teeth 22, the sharp end edges 24 of the teeth will exert a camming action on the moving tooth or teeth, whereby the same is automatically centered in an appropriate locking channel.

With the jaws in the-aligned position, it has been found highly desirable to provide means for locking them against mis-alignment. This is accomplished by the provision of any suitable longitudinally-extending detent on either the stem 23 or movable jaw IS with a latch carried by the other member and engaging the detent to lock the jaws in the aligned position. In the embodiment illustrated, the detent comprises a longitudinallyextending groove 25 formed in the stem l3. A latch is pivoted on the movable jaw l and comprises a latch dog 26 seatable in the groove 25 when the jaws are aligned to prevent rotation of the movable jaw on the stem 13 to a mis-aligned position. The latch dog 26 comprises the free end of a latch lever which is pivoted to the movable jaw I5 by any suitable pintle 27 which spans a slot 28 formed in the movable jaw. The latch includes a finger piece or lever arm 29 which extends forwardly out of the slot 28 where it may be readily grasped by an operators finger, Any suitable spring means 30 which may be recessed in the slidable jaw 15 bears against the lever arm 29 and loads the latch dog into engagement with the detent-providing groove 25.

While I have shown and described what is now thought to be a preferred embodiment of the in vention, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of other forms and expressions. Consequently, I do not limit myself to the precise structure shown and described hereinabove, except as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A slidable jaw wrench comprising a shank, a first jaw positioned transversely of said shank adjacent one end thereof and fixedly secured thereto, a second jaw positioned in face to face relation with respect to said first jaw, means mounting said second jaw on said shank for sliding movement toward and away from said first jaw and for limited rotative movement toward and awa from said shank, inter-engaging means on said shank and said second jaw for holding said second jaw in any selected position of sliding movement toward said first jaw upon limited rotative movement of said second jaw toward said shank, and a spring biased latch element carried by said second jaw and engageable with said second jaw mounting means upon limited rotative movement of said second jaw toward said shank.

2. A slidable jaw wrench comprising a shank, 9. first jaw positioned transversely of said shank adjacent one end thereof and fixedly secured thereto, a stem arranged in parallel spaced relation with respect to said shank and fixedly supported in said first jaw and said shank, a second jaw positioned in face to face relation with respect to said first jaw and mounted on said stem for sliding movement toward and away from said first jaw and for limited rotative movement toward and away from said shank, inter-engaging means on said shank and said second jaw for holding said second jaw in any selected position of sliding movement toward said first jaw upon limited rotative movement of said second jaw toward said shank, and a spring biased latch element carried by said second jaw and engageable with said second jaw mounting means upon limited rotative movement of said second jaw toward said shank.

3. A slidable jaw wrench comprising a shank, a first jaw positioned transversely of said shank adjacent one end thereof and fixedly secured thereto, a stem arranged in parallel spaced relation with respect to said shank and fixedly supported in said first jaw and said shank, a second jaw positioned in face to face relation with re spect to said first jaw and mounted on said stem for Sliding movement toward and away from said first jaw and for a limited rotative movement toward and awa from said shank, inter-engaging means embodying rack teeth formed on the portion of said second jaw adjacent said shank and engageable with said rack teeth formed on the adjacent part of said shank for holding said second jaw in any selected position of sliding movement toward said first jaw upon limited rotative movement of said second jaw toward said shank, and a spring biased latch element carried by said second jaw and engageable with said second jaw mounting means upon limited rotative movement of said second jaw toward said shank.

WILLIAM M. JOHNSTON.

REFERENCES CITED 'The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 332,051 Cline Dec. 8, 1885 493,829 Mandigo Mar. 21, 1893 595,638 Le May Dec. 14, 1897 735,734 English Aug. 11, 1903 978,151 Guernsey Dec. 13, 1910 1,781,994 Wilson Nov. 18, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 11,525 Great Britain of 1897 

